Supply Chain Traceability

5 ways to achieve 100% traceability through the supply chain

When it comes to production, shipment and the bottom line, nothing is more critical than the ability to track and trace products through each stage of the supply chain. With millions of pallets dispatched each year, it's clear that high quality barcoding for logistics units trade units, and consumer units are of critical importance.

Problems typically faced by both manufacturers and warehousing operations teams include the inability to trace pallets, the labour and time wasted collecting and relabelling products, the risk of rejected shipments to vendors and the inevitable loss of sales.

In order to minimise these key areas of waste and to streamline operational processes to achieve 100% traceability through the supply chain, there are five key areas to consider:

1. Take into account your environment as you choose your solution. Key factors to bear in mind at this stage include whether the solution will need to be networkable, capable of batch printing and user friendly. To ensure the best long-term fit, it will also need to meet the speed and size requirements of your production line. Depending on what will be most suitable for your purpose, there are desktop, mobile and print and apply solutions which can be integrated into your current process.

2. Data is just as important as the printer and the label. The label data should be linked to a centralised company database rather than being created as its own sub-system within the parent company database. This will maintain data integrity and make it quick and simple to update and clean regularly. Sub-systems are not advisable as manual updates are subject to human error and can result in partial updates and incorrect entries.

3. Choosing the correct labelling software. BarTender is certified by both Microsoft and GS1 and has been named the best professional barcoding software*, as it can be fully integrated with existing back-office systems, making it a cost effective way to manage your data. It is scalable to suit both small databases and larger ERP systems such as SAP and Oracle, and is capable of handling growth in product data. insignia is an authorised Australian distributor selling BarTender software and also offers national phone support as an included service to all BarTender users.

4. Preventative maintenance and cleaning is important for both the longevity of your equipment and avoiding equipment failure and downtime. Depending on individual requirements, insignia can offer you a range of options, including self-managed; balanced cover; or preventative maintenance. insignia is certified to perform warranty repairs and also provides a technical support hotline and service teams for scheduled maintenance.

5. Ongoing education and training of new and existing team members will serve as a great basic proactive troubleshooter and will ensure you can get the most out of your barcode labelling solution.

If you would like to explore your options regarding the implementation of a label printing system, find out more about how insignia can help you with error-proofing and improving traceability, or learn more about education and training opportunities, please contact the team on 1300 467 446 or at sales@insignia.com.au.

*Rated by 10TopTenREVIEWS at http://barcode-software-professional-review.toptenreviews.com/bartender-review.html